Electronic device bedside storage unit

ABSTRACT

A storage unit for holding a cell phone, with the storage unit attachable to bedding. The storage unit has a front panel and a semi rigid back panel, with the back panel being stiff enough that it does not fold in upon itself when the weight of a cell phone is placed in the pocket formed between the front and the back panel. The front panel has a cord passage for attachment of the cell phone to an outlet such as speakers or a charging unit, or an alarm clock. A magnetic attachment allows the storage unit to be attached to bedding in a position which is convenient for the user, typically along the side of the mattress.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The presently disclosed and claimed technology generally relates tostorage devices, and more particularly to a bedside storage device forcell phones and the like.

BACKGROUND

Cell phones have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life, and peoplecarry them everywhere. As more and more communications and utilities arebased on telephones, it becomes important even at night to have a cellphone nearby, to serve as an alarm clock, to get important messages, andas late night entertainment. Another need when using a cell phone is tocharge the cell phone, and charging it at night is a convenient way tokeep the cell phone charged while having the cell phone accessible atall times. One problem with having access to a phone while in bed isthat not everyone has a nightstand nearby where they sleep. They alsomay be traveling and not have their usual arrangements for placing thecell phone or charging the cell phone nearby to where they sleep. Thecell phone may also have the alarm clock function being utilized atnight or when traveling, and it may also need to be kept nearby fornight time reading, receiving and sending messages, checking websitesand keeping in touch with friends and family. For all of these reasons,it is important to be able to have a cell phone nearby even whensleeping, and it is important to be able to charge that cell phone whilea person is sleeping, and it is important to have the cell phoneaccessible when sleeping even when the person is traveling.

SUMMARY

Disclosed is a storage unit for storage of devices such as cell phones.This storage unit is configured for attachment to bedding, which can bethe fitted sheet on a mattress, can be the sheet which is placed over aperson, it can also be the pillow case, a blanket, a comforter, or otherbedding, or even objects that are near the bedding such as a nightstand.The device is made up of a semi rigid and planer or flat back panel.Semi rigid refers to a material which does not readily fold togetherwhen weight is placed in the middle of the panel. An example of a semirigid material, which would be suitable for use as a back panel, wouldbe a piece of cardboard, fiber board, synthetic or plastic which doesnot easily fold in at the middle.

Attached to the back panel is a flexible front panel. It is joined tothe back panel along three sides with a top edge of the front panelbeing unattached to the back panel, thus providing a pocket between theback panel and the front panel. The front panel can be made of a fabricmaterial. The back panel may be made of a fabric in which is inserted astiffening material such as plastic, cardboard or material such asBontex or Texon. The important feature about the stiffness factor of theback panel is that it should be flat when hanging at the side of a bedand when an object such as a cell phone is dropped into the pocket, itremains flat and does not fold in upon itself, as a purely fabric pocketwould do. The front panel can include gussets along the side which wouldallow the pocket to expand somewhat when a cell phone is placed insidethe pocket. The storage unit has a cord passage which is defined ineither the front or the back panel, preferably the front panel, which issomething like a slot or button hole, through which a cord such as acord for charging the cell phone could pass.

The device attaches to bedding by use of a two piece magnetic attachmentunit. Attachment can be by sewing, bonding, gluing, riveting, or otherconventional means. The magnetic attachment unit can be made up of amagnet forming one of the magnet units, and either a magnet or a pieceof metal such as steel, which is attracted to a magnet forming the othermagnet unit. One of the units would be attached to the back panel of thestorage device, and the other magnet unit is detachable and would beplaced behind a material such as the fitted sheet of the mattress, ablanket, or the edge of the pillow case. In this way the storage unitwould be attached to and suspended from bedding, so that it could beplaced within easy arm's reach so that it is on the side of the bed ormattress, next to the user.

The back panel can be the same size as the front panel, but it ispreferably a piece which is the same width as the front panel, but whichextends higher than the front panel. This can be in a rectangularportion which extends above the front panel, a semi circular ortriangular or other shape, or preferably can be in a trapezoidalportion. One version of the device has a hinged flap attached to the topedge of the back panel, in which one of the magnet units is secured.Since the hinge unit is readily turned to an angle to the rest of theback panel, the hinge unit can be placed in a horizontal position on topof the mattress while the back panel hangs in a vertical position alongthe side of the mattress.

The design is slim and discrete and is not visible when the bed is made.This is unlike other products in this category, which are bulky and restunder the top bed mattress, and are visible on the side of the mattress.

The magnetic attachment prevents damage to bedding, which can occur withpins, snaps, etc.

The device can be used on any bed with sheeting. Other products arelimited to usage by exact only situations. For example, a box springwith a framed bed will not work for their product. Nor would a futon,air mattress, bunk beds or other nontraditional beds. Only the discloseddevice will work with all bedding scenarios.

Gusseted and or pleated pocket design allows for extra capacity andexpansion. The Smart Reach pocket has ability to be slim but can expandto accommodate not only the phone but bulky protective cases which holdphones.

Hinge top panel. Our hinge top panel gives the user the flexibility toplace the Smart Reach at the top of the bed mattress, which creates awaterfall effect allowing the pocket to drop over the mattress.

Electrical opening. Enables the user to charge their phone while theproduct is being stored.

Specially coated material allowing easy cleaning and water resistance.

No assembly required. Our product can be attached to your bed onceremoved from the packaging.

Our product offers the option for the customer to add a custom logo,brand name, or personal saying, initials or any text, photo. The frontor back of our product is designed and manufactured to acceptembroidery, silk screen, and heat transfer. In addition, custom materialcolors are options that hard cased products do not offer.

Personal belongings clutter on bedside tables. Many people have too manyitems that need to be available close to their bedside. Our productallows the user to insert their Smartphone/cell phone into a convenientpocket which easily attaches to their bed sheeting.

Gives users the option to store a phone close to them while sleeping.Some people do not have a bedside table or find placing their phone onthe floor to be troublesome and a challenge to reach.

The disclosed device enables the user to store their phone very close totheir body in a protective, stationary and controlled environment whileat the same time not disturbing their sleep like other randomly placedphones. People are using specialty apps to monitor sleeping patterns,resting heart rate and other apps are constantly being developed. Thedisclosed device offers the ability to utilize these apps when it isimperative to the function of the app that the phone be close to theuser's body while sleeping.

The purpose of the Abstract is to enable the public, and especially thescientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosureof the application. The Abstract is neither intended to define theinventive concept(s) of the application, which is measured by theclaims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of theinventive concept(s) in any way.

Still other features and advantages of the presently disclosed andclaimed inventive concept(s) will become readily apparent to thoseskilled in this art from the following detailed description describingpreferred embodiments of the inventive concept(s), simply by way ofillustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out the inventiveconcept(s). As will be realized, the inventive concept(s) is capable ofmodification in various obvious respects all without departing from theinventive concept(s). Accordingly, the drawings and description of thepreferred embodiments are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, andnot as restrictive in nature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the disclosed storage device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the presently disclosed inventive concept(s) is susceptible ofvarious modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustratedembodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will bedescribed below in detail. It should be understood, however, that thereis no intention to limit the inventive concept(s) to the specific formdisclosed, but, on the contrary, the presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s) is to cover all modifications, alternativeconstructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope ofthe inventive concept(s) as defined in the claims.

A preferred embodiment of the disclosed technology is shown in FIG. 1.FIG. 1 shows the device storage unit 10, which is made up of a semirigid flat back panel 12, and a front panel 14. Attached to the top edge16 of the back panel 12 is a hinged portion 18 in which is positioned anattached magnet unit 20. An unattached magnet unit 22 is also seen whichis used to place and secure the device 10 on a piece of bedding such asfabric of a fitted sheet.

The preferred material of the front panel is a fabric such as a smoothpolyester or nylon fabric. It is important that the fabric be easilycleaned, because washing the device can be problematic due to theenclosed magnet in the device, which can stick to the inside of thewashing machine. The water can also damage the enclosed magnet. It ispreferred that the front panel have gussets 24 which allow the pocket toexpand somewhat, but the gussets are optional. One embodiment of thedevice is one in which the back panel 12 is made up of two layers offabric, with a stiffening material 26 placed inside the back panel. Thestiffening material 26 is shown in dotted line in FIG. 1. The back panel12 can also be made of a stiffening material, to which the front panel14 is attached. The device also includes a cord passage 28 for thepassage of a cord such as a charging cord for a cell phone or otherelectronic device. A retainer clip may be used to secure the cord to thedevice.

One preferred embodiment of the device is one in which the storage unitis 5 inches wide and the front panel is 4¾ inches tall. The gusset canbe ¾ of an inch in depth. The back panel can extend above the frontpanel approximately 3-4 inches, be trapezoidal in shape, and have a topedge 16 which is approximately 2 inches wide. The hinged portion 18would be attached to the top edge 16 of the top panel, and like the backpanel, would be two layers of fabric with an article enclosed betweenthe layers of fabric, which would be the attached magnet unit 20. Eitherof the magnet units can be a magnet, or one can be a magnet and theother one can be a piece of ferromagnetic material such as steel.

A preferred material for the stiffener 26 is Bontex which can beapproximately 0.4 mm to 1 mm in thickness. Bontex 101 and Bontex 30 areexamples of cellulose material which are suitable, and which can betreated to resist microbial growth. Bontex is a natural fiber, withelastometic bonding. Bontex 101 or Bontex 30, at least 0.40 mm thick ispreferred for this device, but other materials which are sufficientlyrigid can be used. The requirement of stiffness means that the stiffener26 can't be made of a fabric. It may be a piece of plastic, syntheticmaterial, carbon fiber sheet, fiber board, or cardboard which is atleast as stiff as the specified stiffness. As an example of how stiffthis degree of stiffness is, if a 5×4 block of material is supportedonly on the 4 inch edges, with the 5 inch wide portion suspendedunsupported, when cell phone weighing 120 grams is placed on that backpanel, the back panel deflects less than one and a half inches.

Bontex 101 has a stiffness (MD) of from 78 to 550 for thicknesses of0.45 mm to 1.00 mm. It also has a stiffness (CMD) of 40 to 256 forthickness of 0.45 to 1.00 mm. The stiffness is tested by a TAPPI 489standard. This test method covers a procedure used to measure theresistance to bending of paper and paperboard. This test method is usedto determine the bending moment required to deflect the free end of a 38mm (1.5 in.) wide vertically clamped specimen 15° from its center linewhen the load is applied 50 mm (1.97 in.) away from the clamp. Theresistance to bending is calculated from the bending moment. A stiffnessof at least 70 is sufficient for this application.

While certain exemplary embodiments are shown in the figures anddescribed in this disclosure, it is to be distinctly understood that thepresently disclosed inventive concept(s) is not limited thereto but maybe variously embodied to practice within the scope of the followingclaims. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that variouschanges may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure as defined by the following claims.

1. A device storage unit for attachment to bedding, comprising: asemi-rigid and planar back panel; a flexible front panel joined to saidback panel along three sides, with a top edge of said front panelunsecured to said back panel, thus defining a pocket between said backpanel and said front panel; a two piece magnetic attachment unitattached to said back panel, for magnetic attachment of said devicestorage unit to bedding; and with a charging cord passage defined ineither of said panels, said pocket for holding a device and with saidcord passage configured for allowing said device to connect to servicesoutside said device storage unit.
 2. The device storage unit of claim 1in which said back panel is the same width as said front panel, buttaller than said front panel with part of said back panel extendingabove said front panel.
 3. The device storage unit of claim 1 in whichsaid back panel is the same width as said front panel, but taller thansaid front panel with said part of said back panel extending above saidfront panel being trapezoidal in shape.
 4. The device storage unit ofclaim 3 which further comprises a hinged portion attached to a top edgeof said top panel.
 5. The device storage unit of claim 4 in which saidtwo piece magnetic attachment unit has one piece attached to said hingedportion.
 6. A device storage unit for attachment to bedding, comprising:a semi-rigid and planar back panel; a flexible front panel joined tosaid back panel along three sides, with a top edge of said front panelunsecured to said back panel, thus defining a pocket between said backpanel and said front panel, in which said back panel is the same widthas said front panel, but taller than said front panel with said part ofsaid back panel extending above said front panel being trapezoidal inshape. a hinged portion attached to a top edge of said top panel; a twopiece magnetic attachment unit attached to said hinged portion of saidback panel, for magnetic attachment of said device storage unit tobedding, said two piece magnetic attachment unit comprising an attachedmagnet unit and a detachable magnet unit, with one of said magnet unitsbeing a magnet and one of said magnet units being attracted to a magnet;and a charging cord passage defined in said back panel, said pocketconfigured for holding a device, and with said cord passage configuredfor allowing said device to connect to services outside said devicestorage unit.